January 9, 2026

January 9, 2026

It is much warmer today in Rome and we are ready for a change of pace. There is a chance of rain later this morning, so we head out right after breakfast to the Metro subway line under the Termini train station. There we pick up the B line southwest. At the Piramide station we transfer to the Metromare suburban rail that follows the Tiber River to the coast at Lido. We disembark just before the end at Ostia Antica. Sitting where the Tiber meets the Mediterranean, Ostia (mouth) was the port of ancient Rome. When Rome fell, Ostia was abandoned and covered in mud. Silting of the Tiber has moved its mouth two miles further away. Like Pompeii, Ostia is an archeological site that showcases an ancient Roman city frozen in time.

After entering the park, we walk west along the main street. On either side of the road is a necropolis, or city of the dead. The Romans buried their dead outside the city walls in elaborate tombs. The plaster coatings have all worn away leaving the brick substructure.

Inside the city wall lie vast fields of warehouses that stored everything a large city would import. Clay vessels were the most common transport and storage containers.

Freight in ancient times was labor intensive, so the city is filled with tall “blue-collar” tenement buildings, and dozens of bathhouses. Ostia is renowned for its mosaic tile floors. We sadly discover that they are all covered with tarps during the winter rainy season. We are bummed.

Our spirits brighten a little when we run across a Thermopolium, the equivalent of our McDonald’s. No Roman had a kitchen in their home and had to eat out. Unlike Pompeii, this eatery is open to walk through. Aimee pretends to take my order. There is a clay jar in the floor that probably held wine. And a fresco depicts some of the offerings.

We also visited a large grain mill with a dozen grinding stones. These most likely would have been powered by donkeys and not slaves.

Next we visit the city center passing by the Theater, the Forum, the Basilica law court, and the imposing Capitolium central temple.

Just off the Forum bathhouse, we ran into the public toilet, with emphasis on public. This one has twenty communal seats. Hopefully the sound of the running water underneath drowned out other sounds.

We finished our audio tour in the small museum. It has a nice collection of typical Roman statuary especially the photo-realistic busts. Most impressive though is the huge collection of funerary urns and sarcophagi. Romans switched from cremation to burying sometime in the first century AD. I think it is interesting that society spends so much of its money on elaborate cemetery goods. While some Roman caskets are plain, many are elaborately carved depicting some mythological scene, like the Labors of Hercules, or the story of Troy in the Iliad.

Aimee was ready to leave but I convinced her to let me explore the west half of Ostia. I am glad we did as we stumbled on quite a few uncovered mosaic floors and a handful of wall frescoes. The more we looked the more we found. I don’t understand why these haven't been tarped.

We are getting hungry so we leave the archeological site and take the train back to the Piramide stop. It has this name because next door is an actual pyramid. It was built in 18 BC as a tomb for a Roman named Cestius, who must have become enamored by Egyptian burial practices. Three centuries later it was incorporated into the new expanded Aurelian city walls.

We have a nice lunch in the nearby Testaccio neighborhood. Aimee had Spinach Ravioli while I had Spaghetti Carbonara. We split a Bruschetta appetizer. It was our best meal so far.

Rome is famous for having been built on seven hills. There are actually eight now. The newest Mt. Testaccio is man-made. In ancient times, Olive Oil was barged up and unloaded on the nearby Tiber River bank. Apparently the oil amphora could not be reused and were broken and discarded here. Since Rome was the largest city in the ancient world for centuries and Romans loved their Olive Oil, there is an estimated 53 million broken amphorae stacked up here!!